Fastener of a rail on a support by means of a resilient clamp



Dec. 11, 1962 J. F. DEENIK ETAL FASTENER OF A RAIL ON A SUPPORT BY MEANSOF A RESILIENT CLAMP Filed July 8, 1960 INVENT R JOHAN F. DEE NIK JACOBA si 55 ES United States Patent Office 3,667,947 Patented Dec. 11, 19623,067,947 FASTENER F A RAIL ON A SUPPORT BY MEANS OF A RESILIENT CLAMPJohan F. Deenik and Jacob A. Eisses, Bilthoven, Netherlands, assignorsto Everts & Van Der Weyden N.V.,

Helmond, Netherlands, a company of the Netherlands Filed July 8, 1960,Ser. No. 41,510 Claims priority, application Republic of South AfricaJuly 17, 1959 8 Claims. (Cl. 238--315) This invention relates to thefastener of a rail on a support by means of a resilient clamp.

The invention has for its object to provide such a fastener which can beapplied universally to sleepers formed of all types of materials andportions of which may be premounted on the sleepers before delivery tothe right of way.

In accordance with the invention, a locking plate with a raised borderflange around three sides lies on either side against the rail foot, andthis plate is locked against horizontal displacement by a U-shapedstrap, the plane of which is parallel to the direction of the rail andthe legs engage each in a gap on both sides of the plate and which arefastened in the material of the support, while the horizontal body ofthe U-shaped strap is spaced above the upper side of the plate by theside flanges, and the loop of a U-shaped bent resilient clamp lies onthe plate under the body of the strap and with its legs bent towards therail and then backward more than 90 toward the loop, which legs press onthe rail foot with the free ends abutting the flange whereby, in anunstrained condition, the distance between the loop and the free ends ofthe clamp legs is greater than the thickness of the body of the strap inthe direction perpendicular to the rail.

Such a fastener can be applied to railway sleepers of all kinds ofmaterial. In the case of a railway sleeper of soft Wood, a supportingplate is applied, whereby the plate is elastically pressed on the Woodby the reaction force of the resilient clamp. The railway sleepers orblocks are conveyed to the right of way with premounted straps andlocking plates. The resilient clamp is mounted from above and around thebody of the strap and is then pressed in the direction of the'railfoot,whereby the ends of the legs rest on the rail foot and abut the side ofthe flange adjacent the rail. The rail is fixed between two lockingplates by which the rigidity of the frame of the track is considerablyincreased. Moreover these locking plates facilitate exact placement ofthe rail when constructing a railway track.

The raised border of the locking plate, in a very practical embodiment,is provided with a central transverse groove the bottom of which mergeswith a bevel rising from the upper surface of the plate and issubstantially level with the upper surface of the rail foot, and thewidth of this groove is smaller than the distance between the outersides of the free ends of the unstrained clamp. When the clamp isdisplaced horizontally the free ends of the clamp legs are carriedupwardly by the bevel and by pressing them together they can passthrough the groove after which the free ends spring apart behind theflange and lock the clamp against retraction.

Moreover, in accordance with the invention, the side flanges of thelocking plate are upwardly inclined to the strap supporting portions theheights of which are greater than the thickness of the loop of theclamp. Thus, the strap cannot be pressed too 'far in the support whichwould leave insuflicient space for the clamp.

Furthermore, in accordance with the invention, the distance between theinner surfaces of these cams can be substantially equal to the width ofthe loop of the clamp. The clamp is then locked against rotary movementabout a vertical axis, which results in a better fastening of the rail.

In accordance with the invention it is advantageous if the outer side ofthe raised border flange adjacent the rail is in contact with the topportion of the strap. This construction offers the advantage that in thecase of a soft base, which may permit twisting of the locking plate fromthe rail foot, the upper rim of the strap exerts a restraining force onthe locking plate through the flange.

In accordance with the invention such a force can also be supplied wheneach leg of the strap has a collar or shoulder of which the uppersurface underlies the plate and is coplanar with the upper surface ofthe support. The locking plate finds then a certain support on thiscollar or shoulder.

Finally the strap can be fastened in the support by means of an adhesivewhich also may provide insulation against electric current. In the caseof a metal railway sleeper, the strap can be fastened to the railwaysleeper by means of welding.

The invention will be further described hereinafter with specificreference to the drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a view in perspective of a fastener according to theinvention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary view in perspective fied strap;

FIG. 3 is a view in perspective of another modification of the strap;

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view taken perpendicularly of the railthrough the fastener shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view similar to FIG. 4 and showing amodification of the fastener, and

FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view similar to FIGS. 4 and 5 and showingstill another embodiment.

In FIG. 1, the fastening of one side of the rail foot 1 of a rail isshown. A locking plate 2 having a raised border flange 3 is positionedwith said flange against the side of the rail foot 1. The locking plate2 has gaps 4 in its ends through which pass the legs 5 and 6 of aU-shaped fastening strap. The lower ends of the legs 5, 6 of the strapare fastened in the material of the railway sleeper on which the railrests. The strap has a of a modi- .horizontal bight portion or body 7which bears on the upper surfaces of the cams or flanges 8 at the endsof plate 2, providing a space between the body 7 and the plate 2.

In this space is fitted the loop 9 of a U-shaped bent clamp 10, the legsof which are bent upwardly and over towards the rail and the free ends11 and 12 of the legs are bent under more than toward the loop 9. Theends 11 and 12 abut the raised border flange 3 and press on the railfoot 1. The free ends 11 and 12 are spaced from the loop 9 so that theclamp 10 can be mounted around the strap from above, after which theclamp can be pushed toward the rail foot 1 with loop 9 underlying thebody 7 of the strap.

The flange 3 has a transverse groove 13, as best shown in FIG. 4, thebottom of which is connected by a bevel 14 with the upper surface of theplate 2 and which forms a ramp between the upper surface of the plate 2and the rail foot 1. When mounting the clamp, the ends 11 and 12 arepressed together so that they can be pushed into the groove. Then, asthe clamp 10 is forced toward the rail its ends 11 and 12 rise along thebevel 14 and subsequently rest on the rail foot 1, after which the endsspring apart and the clamp is locked against retraction by the flange 3.

The height and length of the flange 3 is greater than that of the sideflanges 8 and is engaged by the rail side of the strap portions 5, 6, 7.Should the plate sink into the material of the railway sleeper and tendto twist relative to the rail, it is restrained by the engagement of theouter side of the flange 3 with the adjacent side of the strap.

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment in which the legs 5 are provided with ashoulder 15. The plate 2 then rests on both the railway sleeper and theshoulder 15.

In FIG. 3 the body 7 of the strap has a bend 16 directed away from therail. As a result the loop 9 is more quickly engaged under the body 7 ofthe strap when mounting the clamp 10.

The embodiment according to FIG. 4 shows how the clamp 10 presses on therail foot and is held by the body 7 of the strap. Here, the bottom ofplate 2 is provided with downwardly projecting points 17 for fixing theplate against displacement on the railway sleeper, which consists inthis case of hardwood.

In FIG. 5 a fastener for a railway sleeper of softwood is shown. In thiscase a base plate 18 of hard wood is placed between the locking plate 2and the rail foot on the one hand and the railway sleeper on the otherhand FIG. 6 finally shows a concrete railway sleeper in which the strapis fastened by means of an adhesive 19. A layer of adhesive also may beapplied between the base plate 2 and the railway sleeper. In this mannera good insulation of the rail against electric currents can be obtained.Under the rail itself an insulating layer, such as rubber, can be laid.

What we claim is:

l. A rail fastener comprising a locking plate including a raised borderflange at one side and both ends and having a gap at each end, saidplate being adapted to seat said one side against one edge of a railfoot, means for locking said plate against horizontal displacement on asupport, said means including an inverted U-shaped strap the plane ofwhich is parallel to the direction of the rail and whose legs engage insaid gaps in both ends of the locking plate and extend downwardly forfastening in the material of the support, the horizontal body of theU-shaped strap when fastened bearing on the end border flanges andthereby being spaced a predetermined distance above the upper side ofthe plate and lying adjacent said one side of the border flange andopposite the rail, and a U-shaped bent resilient clamp having a loopadapted to lie on the plate in the space under the body of the strap,the legs of said clamp being bent towards the rail and then bentdownwardly and rearwardly more than 90 in the direction of the loop,said clamp legs being adapted to press on the rail foot and find supportwith their free ends against the rail side of said border flange of thelocking plate, the loop and the free ends of said clamp when in anunstrained condition being spaced a distance greater than the thicknessof the body of the strap in the direction perpendicular to the rail,whereby a prefabricated support and locking plate secured thereto bysaid strap may be assembled by merely positioning a rail and insertingthe clamp loop downwardly over the strap and then moving the clamp loopunder the strap.

2. A fastener in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that saidborder flange at said one side has a transverse groove in its uppersurface extending completely through the flange, and of a width smallerthan the distance between the outer sides of the free ends of theunstrained clamp, whereby the resilient clamp upon assembly is insertedunder the strap with the free ends of the clamp legs in said groove, theclamp when moved toward the rail freeing the clamp legs from the groove.

3. A fastener in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that theflanges at the ends of the locking plate are provided with cam uppersurfaces raised in the direction of said side flange and having a heightsomewhat larger than the thickness of the loop of the clamp.

4. A fastener in accordance with claim 3, characterized in that thedistance between said flange sides having cam surfaces is substantiallyequal to the width of the loop of the clamp.

5. A fastener in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that theraised border flange at the side adjacent to the rail is in contact withthe top portion of the strap.

6. A fastener in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that each legof the strap is formed with a shoulder whose upper surface underliessaid plate and is dis posed at the level of the upper surface of thesupport when the fastener is applied thereto.

7. A fastener in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that saidstrap is fastened in the support by means of an adhesive.

8. A fastener according to claim 2 wherein the inner edge of the bottomof said groove is spaced from the body of said strap a distance greaterthan the thickness of the clamp legs to permit passage of the legstherebetween for mounting the clamp on the plate, said groove bottombeing connected to the top surface of the plate by a bevel to cam theclamp legs upwardly to the level of the rail foot as the clamp is movedtoward the rail to seat the clamp loop under the strap.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,257,077 Scholes Sept. 23, 1941 2,690,879 Snyder Oct. 5, 1954 2,980,336Doll Apr. 18, 1961 OTHER REFERENCES Deenik, German Application 1,003,248printed Feb. 28, 1957, (K1. 19a8).

Werke, German application 1,020,046 printed Nov. 28, 1957 (K1. 19a10).

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